Hello,
It has been another busy summer and we are now looking at the end of another year for our seasonal hostels. You can still visit our Boston hostel year round though and catch all of the splendor of the leaves changing or come see Boston light up around the holidays. You can also stay involved with HI-ENEC throughout the winter. Keep an eye on our calendar for upcoming events including the film "Miss Navajo" in October and more films in January and February. We have a busy year coming up so make sure to visit our website often to see what's going on with HI-ENEC!

Happy travels!
Jessica Sutich
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
HI-ENEC

Please join us for Hostelling International - USA,
Eastern New England Council's 2007 Annual Meeting

Come and spend the evening meeting fellow hostellers, ENEC staff and Board, and just have fun mingling with like-minded folks.

Date: Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Time: 6:30PM
Place: 218 Holland Street, Somerville, MA 02144

Agenda:
7:00PM President's Report and Board of Director's Election
7:30PM Presentation from Sally Whitcher Award winner Kelsey Stein

Click here for more information and a list of Board Candidates bios.

To RSVP or for more information, contact Deborah Neisel-Sanders at 617.718.7990.

Oct 23rd – Travel Abroad 101
Nov 6th – Women Traveling Solo
Nov 13th – Volunteering Abroad

All workshops are at 7pm.

Click here for more Travel Clinic information.

The Future of the Mid Cape (Eastham) Hostel

Plans to replace the Mid Cape Hostel with state-of-the-art green facilities are on hold due to recent rulings by the Eastham Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). After serving travelers for over 40 years the ZBA ruled against a special permit application that would allow the hostel to continue operations. HI-ENEC has filed an appeal of this decision and is working with local officials and residents to find a resolution that will allow the hostel to continue. “We fully expect to be open for the 2008 summer season,” according to Deborah Ruhe, HI-ENEC’s executive director.

A web page is being developed to keep hostel supporters informed. To receive updates or alerts, send an email to deborah@usahostels.org

Cultural Kitchen welcomes new coordinator, additional schools

From East Boston and Charlestown to Jamaica Plain and Dorchester, Cultural Kitchen truly covered much ground during 2006-07, the program’s launch year. Cooking and peer teaching proved a practical and engaging vehicle for students to learn about themselves and each other, and the program met with overly positive feedback from students, teachers, and administrators throughout 8 participating schools.

Cultural Kitchen enters its second year with a solid foundation and a batch of new schools excited to join the program. New coordinator Molly Cosgrove, a graduate of the University of Vermont and a former educator at Nature’s Classroom, is motivated by the possibilities.

“CK is a great venue to promote positive discussions, and I look forward to working with students from varying backgrounds. We’ll have new recipes, new schools, and even some music while in the kitchen—it’s going to be a great year,” says Cosgrove.

For details about Cultural Kitchen, recipes, and contact information, click here.

The Tulgey Wood, a camp founded by Gillian Butchman with the purpose of bringing people with and without severe disabilities together to experience creative activities, adventures, and challenging sports stayed at the Nantucket Hostel for their summer camp this past July. Their mission is, "encouraging and supporting friendships, adventures, and artistic expressions between people with and without severe disabilities everywhere." This is their second year on Nantucket and this year they were able to stay with us in part thanks to the recent completion of the Nantucket renovations. These included amongst other things boardwalks for easier access between buildings and also handicap accessible ramps and bathroom. They were able to enjoy another year of adventure on Nantucket and hopefully this partnership will last for many years to come. To learn more about their organization visit here

Each semester, HI-ENEC selects two area college students to receive the Sally Whitcher Award, a $500 grant supporting ambitious and unique travel plans with a focus on cultural immersion. Winner’s blogs, past and present, are available on our website. Here is a sample from Spring 2007 winner and Brown University student Justine McGowan during her time in Kenya:

My mind flashed back to Khartoum, where lame men and children positioned themselves on small scooters with their useless legs folded awkwardly underneath them and dangerously darted between the traffic to beg from car to car. From there my memories jumped to similar scenes in New York City, of the handicapped homeless and the gawking passerby's who drop a few quarters in a box and thank god they have not been cursed with that kind of life. Poverty is everywhere, but poverty is not the same. Here it is before your eyes, permeating your nostrils, dirtying your feed, lingering in your hair, and in your hand as a small child with flies buzzing around her mouth and eyes clutches you. This is not the Africa I have portrayed in mass rambling emails of the past. This is not the Africa I describe when people here ask me "how do you find our country," and it is not the Africa I can capture in film and turn into Shutterfly albums to share with folks at home. I do not write to evoke abstract pity like an adopt-a-child commercial, but too often I numb myself to the reality that is poverty, illness, and desperation. Instead I focus on the beauty of the landscape, the incredible generosity of the people, and the strength and perseverance of their spirits...

Click here for more information and the application. The deadline is October 26, 2007.

 

Hostelling International USA, Eastern New England Council is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing cultural interchange by facilitating worldwide travel. Who We Are		HI-USA, Eastern New England Council 218 Holland St Somerville MA 02144 www.usahostels.org